# Garth (name)

A garth is an enclosed quadrangle or yard, especially one surrounded by a cloister (Middle English; Old Norse garþr, garðr; akin to Anglo-Saxon geard). This led to the word being given as a last name to people who worked in or near a garden. Later it came to be used as a first name.
It is also possible that the name Garth comes from Gareth [ˈɡarɛθ], a Welsh masculine given name of uncertain meaning. It first appeared in this form in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, in which it belonged to Sir Gareth, a brother of Gawain and one of the Knights of the Round Table. Malory based it on Gahariet, a name found in French Arthurian texts; it may have a Welsh origin, perhaps connected with the name Geraint, or the word gwaredd, meaning "gentleness". It is particularly popular in Wales, and Gary is sometimes taken as a pet form of it.

## Given name

* Garth Brooks (born 1962), top-selling American country music artist
* Garth Christian, English nature writer
* Garth Crooks (born 1958), former Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur footballer
* Garth Drabinsky (born 1949), former Canadian film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur
* Garth Ennis (born 1970), Irish comics writer
* Garth Everett (1954–2023), American attorney and lawyer
* Garth Fagan (born 1940), Jamaican choreographer
* Garth Hound, San Francisco based electronic musician
* Garth Hudson (1937–2025), Canadian multi-instrumentalist, organist for rock group The Band
* Garth Jennings (born 1972), film director in "Hammer & Tongs" team
* Garth Matthams, Canadian writer of Witch Creek Road (2017–2021) and Witch Creek High (2023; on hiatus)
* Garth Nix (born 1963), Australian fantasy author
* Garth Norman (born 1938), British clergyman
* Garth Richardson (born 1960), Canadian music producer
* Garth Saloner (born c. 1955), South African-born American economist
* Garth Snow (born 1969), American ice hockey goaltender
* Garth Tander (born 1977), Australian racing driver
* Hon. Garth Turner (born 1949), Canadian MP for Halton (1988–1993 and 2006–2008)
* Garth Wilkin, politician from Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Garth Williams (1912–1996), American children's book illustrator

## Fictional characters

* Garth, an anthropomorphic wolf from the animated film series Alpha and Omega
* Garth, a DC Comics superhero also known as Aqualad and Tempest
* Garth, the Hero of Will from the video game series Fable
* Garth, hero of long-running 1970s British newspaper strip of the same name drawn by Frank Bellamy and Martin Asbury
* Garth, in the Heritage of Shannara series by Terry Brooks
* Garth of Izar, a Fleet Captain in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy"
* Garth family, farmers in the 19th century novel Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life
* Garth Algar, a main character from the skit and film series Wayne's World
* Judge Henry Garth, judicial character on the TV show The Virginian
* Garth Fitzgerald IV, from the series Supernatural
* Garth Marenghi, a fictional horror author
* Garth Ranzz, a DC Comics character also known as Lightning Lad or Live Wire
* Garth Stubbs, nicknamed "Garthy", a character in British sitcom Birds of a Feather
* Garth Volbeck, a character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

## Surname

* Brian Garth (born 1979), American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, sound engineer and producer, co-creator of Black Camaro
* Charles Garth (c. 1734–1784), British Member of Parliament, British Crown Agent for South Carolina, Georgia and briefly Maryland
* Jennie Garth (born 1972), American Beverly Hills, 90210 actress
* Jimmy Garth (1922–1972), Scottish footballer
* John Garth (1701–1764), British politician
* John Garth (composer) (1721–1810), English composer
* Kim Garth (born 1996), Irish women's cricketer
* Lakita Garth, African-American advocate of sexual abstinence, public speaker and author
* Leonard I. Garth (1921–2016), American judge
* Richard Garth (1820–1903), Chief Justice of Bengal and Privy Counsellor
* Samuel Garth (1661–1719), British physician
* Thomas Garth (British Army officer) (1744–1829), British Army general, chief equerry to George III
* Thomas Garth (Royal Navy) (died 1841), British Royal Navy captain